Living Because the Coming Affects Us, or Should (2 Peter 3:1-13)

​Peter here reminds the recipients that this is his second letter to them. Presumably, he is referring to what we call 1 Peter as his first letter. We might think that they are different in content: for example, 1 Peter says a lot about suffering and 2 Peter says a lot about false teachers. Nevertheless, there is a common purpose in why he wrote, which is that his readers should remember the writings of what we call the Old Testament and the New Testament. What they are to remember from the Old Testament is the predictions it contains about the coming of Jesus and his work; what they are to remember from the New Testament is the instructions of the apostles. It is interesting that he uses a single term for what the apostles taught, which could be an allusion to the Great Commission in which Jesus instructed the apostles to pass on all that Jesus had taught them. Why do they need to remember those things? Peter proceeds to give four reasons.

Presence of scoffers (vv. 1-7)

The first reason is the coming of scoffers. We can ask three questions about this. Firstly, when will the scoffers come? They will come ‘in the last days’, which does not mean the end of time. Rather, the ‘last days’ is the period between the two comings of Jesus. So it covers the entire Christian era, and that is a reason for people to stop speculating about whether or not current activities are any indications that we are in the final days. There are three definite predictions which have not been fulfilled yet and, until they have, there is no reason for us to think we are close to the end. They are (1) preaching the gospel throughout the world, (2) the conversion of the Jews, and (3) the appearance of the Antichrist or Man of Sin.

Secondly, why will the scoffers come? Peter gives an answer to this question in his phrase in verse 3 – they are ‘following their own sinful desires’. The statements they make are based on what they want to happen, not on what God says will happen. Peter seems to have in mind people who should know better, going by what he says in verse 5. In coming to their decision, they deliberately overlook a definite fact from the past, the flood. Therefore, they would have had to have been told of the flood, which indicates that they were either Jews or those who had previously accepted Christianity. But because they had not been truly converted they now rejected what they had once regarded as true.

Thirdly, what will the scoffers overlook? The answer is that they will not accept that God judges sinners for their sins. Because the judgement has not happened yet, they say that it will not happen. They base this on the assumption that life does not change very much, that it has basically been the same all through history. What they choose to forget is that God in the past judged the whole world by the flood of Noah. God could have sent the flood at any time in the period between Adam and Noah, but he waited a long time before sending it. But when he sent it, the judgment happened rapidly and everything about the ancient world perished. Peter also says that the judgement did not require anything from outside the world to bring about the judgement – water was sufficient. Similarly, what will happen when Jesus returns for the Day of Judgement will be brought about by the amount of fire that exists.

It will be a solemn day because the judgement of God will involve destruction of the ungodly. By destruction, he does not mean annihilation. Rather it is the experience of endless punishment, of the enduring of divine wrath.

Patience of God (vv. 8-10)

The second reason that Peter gives is the patience of God. Because the Lord is patient, he chooses how long he will be patient, and why he will be patient. How long will he be patient? He has not told us, so we don’t know. What we do know is that one day the period of his patience will come to an end.

Why will he be patient? Peter tells us why in verse 9. His patience has a purpose. We might think he is showing patience towards the unconverted, but that is not what Peter says. Rather the Lord shows patience towards his own people – Peter says to them that the Lord ‘is patient toward you’. He does not want any of his people to perish. Imagine if God’s patience had stopped in 1930. How many of us would have become his people? None. But God waited until every converted person in the world today repented, and he will wait for as long as is required for his elect to be converted. For all we know, the judgement might come two minutes after that last convert becomes a believer. But it will not happen before he or she becomes a believer.

As we think about this, we realise that somewhere in the past we had ancestors who never heard the gospel, who lived in a society that had not heard about the gospel, and who would not have heard the gospel. While we don’t know exactly where our ancestors were when Peter wrote this letter, some of them probably were living in pagan Britain. The gospel would not come here for at least another century. Was God being patient to them or patient to us? They had no idea about us, but God did.

Peter is not being callous when he tells his readers that God is only showing patience with regard to his people. But it is important that we appreciate what he is saying. Nisbet sums it up when he writes: God ‘is long suffering to us-ward, that is, to us believers and others, elected as we are, not as yet born or not as yet converted, not willing that any such should perish, but that all of that kind should come to repentance.’

When the judgement does come, it will sudden, like a thief. The current universe will dissolve amidst great noise. Fire will destroy the cosmos, but none of the evidence needed for the Day of Judgement will be destroyed. Rather it will be revealed or exposed. Who can possibly say how many works are included in that number? The point for Christians to note is that the Lord will keep his promise about the end of history as we know it.

The Purity of Christians (vv. 11-12)

The scoffers choose not to believe that such a solemn day is coming. In contrast to that response, what should be the reaction of Christians? What kind of people should they be? Peter says that they should be marked by ongoing holiness and godliness. How should we react to that information? First, we must say that it is possible, because otherwise Peter’s instruction would be pointless. Second, we must say that it should be paramount, that it should be the most important thing in our lives, and we will see why that is the case shortly. Third, holiness and godliness should be pervasive, affecting every part of us, not merely outward but also inward. Fourth, it should be progressive because none of us is yet as holy and godly as we should be or can be. Fifth, it should be passionate because holiness and godliness is the same as Christlikeness. Sixth, such holiness and godliness is the proof of the genuineness of our faith. Without such behaviour, we have no proof that we are Christians.

Peter says that those who are holy and godly have two effects, one on themselves and one on the promised day itself. A holy and godly person waits for the coming of the day of God. Waiting does not refer to twiddling our thumbs as we wait for something to happen. Rather it refers to the attitude a servant has at all times in case his master suddenly comes into the room. Such a servant in a Christian sense acts holy and godly whether he is being observed or not by others. He will aim to do nothing of what he would be ashamed of doing if judgement day suddenly happened.

The other effect, Peter says, is that holy and godly behaviour is ‘hastening the coming of the day of God’. What does he mean by that statement? Does he mean that time moves quicker when we are living the way we should? It does not mean that somehow from God’s point of view the date of the second coming will be changed and brought forward. Instead, it means that, from our point of view, we should strive to be holy and godly as possible, and when we do that, we will discover that we don’t have enough time. The fact is that just before that day comes none of us will be as holy and godly as we could. But we should devote our time to holiness and godliness rather than to pointless discussions about when the Lord will return. Because the fact is, we will not know until it happens.

Promise of glory (v. 13)

What are Christians waiting for? Peter reminds us that we are waiting for the fulfilment of a divine promise, perhaps those mention towards the end of Isaiah about the coming of new heavens and new earth. As mentioned earlier, waiting is not a passive gesture but an active one. How can we describe it? First, we should have cosmic expectations for a new universe. The God who created the original universe will renew it and replace it with another one.

Second, we should have confident expectations of a better world – according to one commentator, the word translated as new means fresh in the sense of not being worn out. The point is that it will always be new. After all, it is sin that makes something old and decrepit. What we call old age only occurs because we are sinners. No one and anything in the eternal world of glory will be classified as old in the way that we use the term.

Third, we should note that the eternal world is the home of righteousness, that is where it will dwell. Such a world reminds us that righteousness is communal because it involves constant expression of holy living along with others. It is hard for us now to imagine such a world where nothing sinful is found. But it is more than the absence of what is wrong. It is the constant experience of righteousness from others and the constant expression of righteousness to others, all in the presence of the righteous God.

Applications

Pointless speculation about the second coming of Jesus is not edifying. A lot of nonsense has been claimed throughout history about it because people speculated about when it would happen. The fact is that God has not revealed when it will happen. Probably some wonder if there is a connection between what is happening in Ukraine at the moment and the second coming. The only connection is that Jesus said that there would be wars and rumours of wars, but the end is not yet.

The proper response is to live in the light of what we have been told about it. The evidence that we take the second coming seriously is that we increase in holiness. Peter’s question is very challenging: ‘what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?’ (2 Pet. 3:11). Quoting from Nisbet again, ‘To live in the constant expectation of Christ’s glorious appearance is both the duty of all the lovers of Him, and a special means to make them grow in holiness.’

Here we have a reminder of the largeness of the inheritance of the saints. The description by Peter is that it is as big as a universe. Rutherford’s words come to mind: ‘I wonder many times that ever a child of God should have a sad heart, considering what the Lord is preparing for him.’